Fred Friedberg

Source: Stonybrook.edu

Fred Friedberg, PhD, is a research associate professor in the Applied Behavioral Medicine Research Institute at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, US, and a psychologist in private practice specializing in the treatment of CFS, fibromyalgia, and other chronic pain conditions. He is a provider of the treatment known as eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR).

Friedberg is a founder and editor of the peer review journal: Fatigue: Biomedicine, Health & Behavior, the quarterly professional journal of the professional organization International Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. He serves as the current President of the Board of Directors of the International Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (IACFSME) and represented the IACFSME as a non-voting Liaison Representative at the Jan 12 & 13, 2017 Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee meeting for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Education

• AB, State University of New York at Buffalo
• PhD, City University of New York

Awards

• 2106, IACFSME Special Service Award – Dr. Fred Friedberg

ME/CFS Common Data Element (CDE) Project

Dr Friedberg serves on both the Baseline/Covariate Working Group and the Fatigue Working Group of the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Common Data Element (CDE) Project sponsored by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Baseline/Covariate Working Group reviewed data collection instruments widely used by investigators in the ME/CFS field, and either recommended their use unchanged or (more often) proposed some modifications. The Fatigue Working Group discussed types of fatigue and reviewed existing fatigue instruments widely used by investigators in the ME/CFS field.

Studies and articles

• 1995, Clinical Assessment of Coping in CFS Patients - (Abstract)
• 1995, Coping Reports of Patients with Long-Term Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• 1998, Understanding chronic fatigue syndrome: An empirical guide to assessment and treatment - (Abstract)
• 1999, A Subgroup Analysis of Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Studies
• 1999, An Overview of Psychometric Assessment - (Abstract)
• 2007, Non-pharmacologic interventions for CFS: a randomized trial - (Abstract)
• 2009, Activity Logs as a Measure of Daily Activity Among Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - (Full Text)
• 2009, Examining Types of Fatigue Among Individuals with ME/CFS - (Full Text)
• 2010, Classification of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome by Types of Fatigue - (Full Text)
• 2013, Scientific status of fatigue and pain. Publishing and professional activities: 2002–2011 - (Abstract)
• 2013, chronic fatigue Self-Management in Primary Care: A Randomized Trial - (Full Text)
• 2014, Feasibility of a home-based self-management program for chronic fatigue - (Abstract)
• 2015, Editorial: Self-management and ambulatory monitoring in chronic fatigue syndrome: future directions - (Full Text)
• 2015, Prolonged fatigue in Ukraine and the United States: prevalence and risk factors - (Abstract)
• 2016, Editorial: Cognitive-behavior therapy: why is it so vilified in the chronic fatigue syndrome community? - (Full Text)
• 2016, Efficacy of two delivery modes of behavioral self-management in severe chronic fatigue syndrome - (Abstract)
• 2016, Fatigue severity in World Trade Center (9/11) responders: a preliminary study - (Abstract)
• 2016, Participant attributions for global change ratings in unexplained chronic fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome - (Full Text)
• 2017, Public Review - Draft of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) Common Data Elements (CDE); Fatigue Subgroup Materials - (Full Text)
• 2017, Patient change attributions in self-management of severe chronic fatigue syndrome - (Abstract)
• 2019, Home-based pain and fatigue management in fibromyalgia: Feasibility of a new intervention - (Abstract)
• 2019, Letter to the editor - Post-exercise autonomic function in chronic fatigue syndrome
• 2019, Autonomic markers, chronic fatigue syndrome, and post-exertion states
• 2019, Rethinking the Standard of Care for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - (Full text)

Primer for Clinical Practitioners

• ME/CFS: A Primer For Clinical Practitioners - Dr. Friedberg chaired the writing committee for the 2014 edition of ME/CFS: A Primer For Clinical Practitioners sponsored by the International Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. Other members of the Primer writing committee members include: Rosemary Underhill, MB, BS; Lucinda Bateman, MD; Alison Bested, MD; Todd Davenport, DPT; Kenneth Friedman, PhD; Alan Gurwitt, MD; Leonard Jason, PhD; Charles Lapp, MD; Staci Stevens, MA; and Rosamund Vallings, MB, BS. Anthony Komaroff, MD wrote the foreword to the Primer.

Books

• 1998, Understanding Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: An Empirical Guide to Assessment and Treatment, by Fred Friedberg and Leonard Jason
• 2001, Clinician's Guide To Controversial Illnesses: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, and Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, by Renee R. Taylor, Fred Friedberg, and Leonard A. Jason
• 2006, Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Seven Proven Steps to Less Pain and More Energy, by Fred Friedberg

CFSAC testimony

• June 2012, Written Public Testimony on behalf on International Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

Talks and interviews

• 2009, "The Mystery of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" - Fred Friedberg joins the The New York Times Consults blog to answer readers’ questions about chronic fatigue syndrome
• 2011, "What Helps People Cope with ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia" - Fred Friedberg, Ph.D. at the 10th International IACFSME Conference, Patient Agenda
• 2016, 12th International IACFS/ME Biennial Clinical and Research Conference, Emerging Science and Clinical Care, Behavioral Assessment and Treatment of ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia (Workshop given with Leonard Jason, Ph.D.)

Learn more

• Fred Friedberg bio page at Stony Brook University
• 23 Jun 2016, Getting to the heart of chronic fatigue syndrome Fred Friedberg was awarded a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to research if "determine if heart rate fluctuations in combination with certain daily activity patterns can be used to predict or prevent relapse in people with CFS." The study data will be gathered from wearable mobile heart devices, participants' symptoms and activity diaries, and phone interviews from a psychiatric nurse.

See also

• International Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
• Fatigue: Biomedicine, Health & Behavior medical journal

See chronic fatigue syndrome.

See myalgic encephalomyelitis.

myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.) - A disease often marked by neurological symptoms, but fatigue is sometimes a symptom as well. Some diagnostic criteria distinguish it from chronic fatigue syndrome, while other diagnostic criteria consider it to be a synonym for chronic fatigue syndrome. A defining characteristic of ME is post-exertional malaise (PEM), or post-exertional neuroimmune exhaustion (PENE), which is a notable exacerbation of symptoms brought on by small exertions. PEM can last for days or weeks. Symptoms can include cognitive impairments, muscle pain (myalgia), trouble remaining upright (orthostatic intolerance), sleep abnormalities, and gastro-intestinal impairments, among others. An estimated 25% of those suffering from ME are housebound or bedbound. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies ME as a neurological disease.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee (CFSAC) - (sometimes pronounced SIF-SACK) A US government advisory council that met twice per year, covering current topics related to Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Meetings usually lasted for two days and the results were presented to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). After 15 years, on September 5, 2018, CFSAC's charter was not renewed by the Department of HHS, effectively dissolving the committee without notice or warning.

See Chronic fatigue syndrome advisory committee.

(HR) - the number of times the heart beats within a certain time period, usually a minute

heart rate (HR) - the number of times the heart beats within a certain time period, usually a minute

See National Institutes of Health.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) - A set of biomedical research institutes operated by the U.S. government, under the auspices of the Department of Health and Human Services.

somatic symptom disorder A psychiatric term to describe an alleged condition whereby a person's thoughts somehow cause physical symptoms. The actual existence of such a condition is highly controversial, due to a lack of scientific evidence. It is related to other psychiatric terms, such as "psychosomatic", "neurasthenia", and "hysteria". Older terms include "somatization", "somatoform disorder", and "conversion disorder". Such terms refer to a scientifically-unsupported theory that claims that a wide range of physical symptoms can be created by the human mind, a theory which has been criticized as "mind over matter" parapsychology, a pseudoscience.

cognition Thought processes, including attention, reasoning, and memory.